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| Richard Bothelo |
On February 8, 2019 at approximately 6AM Transit Police officers assigned to the Central District received a radio call to respond to the MBTA 's Riverside Station for a report of a male reportedly swinging some type of weapon at passengers. Upon arrival officers were met by witnesses who described the following event: A male, later identified as Richard Botelho, 47, of Somerville, for some unknown reason was threatening to strike passengers in the face with an elongated stick while on the eastbound platform. Botelho then entered onto a green line trolley and began to swing the stick at patrons and scream profanities. Botelho’sactions caused fear amongst his fellow riders as well as delayed the train at the start of rush hour.
Botelho was placed into custody for Assault by means of a Dangerous Weapon and transported to TPD HQ for the arrest booking process.
media inquiries should be directed to Superintendent Richard Sullivan at rsullivan@mbta.com
